Mortal Flaw
by TheLokiExperience
Summary: A fiery redhead. An even-tempered brunette. Two girls find themselves the cause of tension and fascination within the Glade, and that being female in a world of all boys can be a very difficult thing. They test the boundaries, shake the system, and create temptation. Newt/OC; Minho/OC
1. One Of Those Girls

**Chapter One: One Of Those Girls**

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><p><strong>AN: Hello and welcome to our new story! The pairings in this will be Minho/OC and Newt/OC, but as we only have one girl, you'll find out more about the other later ;)**

**We know there are a lot of other stories involving girls coming in before Teresa, so we're hoping to focus on the tensions that bringing females into an all-male environment can cause.**

**Please feel free to leave a review, more reviews = quicker updates.**

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><p>Alby watched as their monthly supplies arrived, along with their newest member to the Glader community. It had been well over a year since he had first come into the Glade and in all that time he had become used to the chaos surrounding the monthly delivery. He glanced at his second in command, Newt, as he approached him.<p>

"Looks like we got a new arrival."

Leon stood on Alby's other side. He was a small boy, about twelve, and was yet to grow to his full size. "Hey, look."

Newt frowned and Alby was outright confused as they stared at the new arrival. "It's a...girl?"

Leon glanced at the others, who were as equally as surprised as he was. This was a first. "Looks like it."

"Strange." Newt commented as he began to start getting the supplies out.

"So what do we do?" Leon questioned, jumping in down beside him and kneeling by the girl who was currently unconscious, her brown hair plastered to her face.

Alby sighed heavily, knowing that one female amongst quite a few teenage males wasn't going to end well. "Same as always."

Gally announced to Minho and the other runners as they approached the cage. "We've got a new arrival."

Minho nodded, crossing his arms and glancing at the new arrival. "Huh. About time."

"Why a girl?" Newt questioned, although he knew that no one in the Glade would have any idea to why they sent a girl either.

"They wanted to change things up?" Gally shrugged, glancing at the girl who was now awake and looking around wildly, obviously confused.

"Who cares?" Leon questioned as he offered the girl a hand, helping her out of the cage. "I'm Leon."

"Where am I?" The girl looked around, raking her brown hair back from her face, her fingers coming away bloodied from where she had hit her head.

"This is the Glade. I'm Alby. The leader around here." Alby introduced himself, smiling warmly at her. He always wanted to make the new members of the Glade feel as welcome as he could. "What do you remember?"

She shook her head. It was like her whole memory had been erased. "Nothing."

"Not even a name?" Alby knew it was normal for memories to start coming back, and sometimes they didn't return at all.

"Melanie. My name's Melanie." She told him after a few minutes, her name slowly coming to the forefront of her mind.

"You're the only girl around here, you know." Alby told her, chuckling when she groaned, obviously upset that she would have a lack of female company. "The boys here range in age. Leon's the youngest, we think he's twelve or thirteen. I'm one of the oldest."

"How old are you?" Melanie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"About 17. Don't remember." Alby shrugged, it was his best guess. He watched as she rubbed her arms, but he couldn't tell if it was because she was cold or because she was uncomfortable. "You okay?"

She nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, its all a lot to take in."

"It'll take a bit of time. We get a newbie every month." Alby smiled, giving her a friendly nudge before grinning while thinking about what they had planned for tonight. "There's going to be a feast and a bonfire tonight, maybe that'll liven you up."

Mel smiled a little, maybe it would cheer her up. "That sounds fun."

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><p>Leon nudged Gally in the ribs. "Verdict?"<p>

It had only been a few months ago that Leon had been the one inside that lift, shaking and scared. It had become obvious pretty quickly that he was an odd boy – probably only about twelve or thirteen, but he talked like he was older than that. He always wore a beanie, even on the days that it blazed with heat, but sometimes strips of auburn hair managed to escape. His features were soft and feminine, earning him light-hearted nicknames like 'titch' and 'pretty boy'.

"Not sure." Gally examined the brown-haired girl curiously, but also suspiciously. They had never had a girl in the Glade before, and it concerned him that one had appeared now. Leon cleared his throat and straightened up, even though even at full height he was about a foot smaller than Gally.

"She's cute."

Hearing him, Minho laughed. "Bit old for you, buddy."

"But not for us," Gally grinned. The girl looked like she was leaning towards her late teens, possibly seventeen.

Leon shrugged his shoulders, suddenly disinterested. "Go for it. Try to keep leering to a minimum and _pretend_ you've seen a girl before."

"Well, I don't remember when I last saw a girl," Gally stated, watching as the brunette started talking to Alby. "It's a nice change."

Leon rolled his hazel eyes. "Try to behave."

Minho grinned down at him. "The kid's giving instructions. Cute."

Leon pulled a face, but knew that they were only joking around. He was like the little brother in the Glade, the one they all teased but were also protective of. He liked how at home he felt, like he truly belonged here with these other boys. He often wondered what was outside the maze, but then again, they all did. None of them had gotten to find out.

Now, this new girl was here. Melanie. Leon wasn't quite sure what to think, except that the presence of a girl would shake up the delicate balance of the Gladers. There had been incidents in the past, leading to Alby creating the three rules. So long as she did her part, Melanie wouldn't upset things too much. At least, Leon hoped so.

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><p>The celebration feast happened every month. It had been three months since Leon's own feast, where he'd been the guest of honour. He'd liked the attention at the time, but now he was glad that it was focused on someone else. He watched as the brown-haired girl wandered around uncertainly, watching as Gally mucked around with some of the other builders. He was winning, but he usually was.<p>

"Okay, Gally versus the titch," Minho called. It was common knowledge that despite his young age and small build, Leon was Gally's second-in-command. When they indulged in their little play-fights, there was no wondering as to why. He might not be as strong as most, but he was tough for his size, and moved with uncommon speed and unusual grace.

"Don't call me that!" Leon exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet. Gally walked over with a smirk across his face.

"It's the truth, titch."

"Call me titch one more time and I'll kick your ass," Leon said boldly. The builders were the brawn, so Alby often also used them as enforcers – if someone broke the rules, or if things got out of hand, more often than not the builders were the ones to put them in the pit.

Gally shrugged. "You can try."

"Bite me," Leon shot at him, before lashing out quick as a snake and knocking Gally's feet out from underneath him, sending him crashing to the ground. He grabbed the boy's legs and tugged, dragging him down with him. It took him only a moment to recover, watching as Leon jumped to his feet before tackling him.

It was all good-natured fun – Gally could be rough in these fights, but he was always careful that he didn't hurt little Leon. It was all too easy for him to grab Leon's small wrists and pin them over his head, as the kid struggled furiously beneath him. Leon twisted, knocking his arms away and making him lose balance, but it only made Gally fall on top of him with a groan. Leon yelped, putting his arms over his chest to shield himself from taking the brunt of Gally's full weight.

"You're fat," Leon accused as Gally laugh and pushed himself to his feet.

"It's not fat, it's muscle," Gally corrected. He was probably the biggest boy in the Glade – easily over six feet tall, and built like a tank. Leon leaped to his feet before launching himself onto Gally's back, putting his hands over his eyes so that he couldn't see.

"Muscle isn't everything. Brains over brawn."

Gally caught his arms and flipped him over his head, and Leon managed to land nimbly on his feet. None of them had memories before the Glade, but Leon must have engaged in some kind of martial arts form to do flips and twists and move as quickly as he did. Gally raised his eyebrows.

"I'm impressed. You landed on your feet. Not for long though."

He swept his foot in a wide arc, knocking Leon off balance. The small boy twisted and managed to land on his hands, lifting his legs up in a handstand before flipping back over onto his feet. If the Glade was a circus, Gally would be the strongman and he would definitely be the acrobat.

"I'm small, but I'm faster than you," Leon declared.

"I know, it's why you're my second," Gally stated, causing Leon to grin proudly and making him shake his head. "You're still a titch."

"I'll be a man yet," Leon said defensively.

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><p>"Looks like they're having fun." Alby commented, glancing at Newt as he sat down beside him. The others were all dancing, drinking and eating around the large bonfire. Laughter filled the air, making Alby smile as he watched everyone interacting happily.<p>

"They always do on nights like this." Newt pointed out, leaning back against the log and sipping his drink, grimacing at the burn that came with the first taste of the drink.

Alby shook his head, his mind still reeling from the day's events. "A girl, though. That's weird."

"Very weird. I can't help but wonder why." Newt sighed, knowing that this was going to cause a lot of issues within their small community. It was hard enough controlling them, and now a female had been thrown into the mix, surrounded by hormonal teenage males.

Alby ran a hand down his face, beginning to feel fatigue seeping into his bones. It had been a long day and he was ready to pack up and go to bed. "To stir things up?"

Newt glanced around, his eyes resting on where Minho and Mel were speaking. "Most likely."

"Not having fun?" Minho asked Mel as he sat beside her. She was sitting away from the rest of the others, staring into the fire. Most of the time when people first got into the Glade they wanted to be the centre of attention during the celebration, but Minho had noticed Mel giving off a sense of wanting to be alone.

"Hm?" Mel looked away from the fire as she heard Minho speak, watching as he sat down beside her.

"Are you having fun?" Minho raised an eyebrow, sipping his drink.

Mel nodded, smiling at him brightly. "Oh. Yes."

"If you're worried about the kid, don't be. He's Gally's second for a reason. Slippery as an eel." He told her, noticing how she kept glancing over to where Gally and Leon were brawling together, with Gally holding the younger boy down easily.

Mel shook her head. She wasn't worried, she assumed they often brawled by how everyone was laughing and cheering the two of them on. "No, I just... I don't fit in here."

"Because you're a girl?" Minho questioned, nudging her with his shoulder when she nodded. "It's okay. There might be more girls."

Mel sighed heavily, glancing down at her empty glass. "For now it's just me."

Minho frowned, noticing how down she seemed about being in the Glade. Sure it was a tough thing to go through, especially knowing you were trapped in by a dangerous maze, but it was home for them and everyone had their place in the community. "Are we really that bad?"

"No, I don't mean it like that. You guys are all good friends and I'm the outsider." Mel explained, glancing around at the various groups of boys who were laughing and chatting. It seemed that everyone had his place, making her feel lonely.

Minho shrugged, finishing his own drink. "We have a newbie once a month. They all fit in eventually. Alby will have to help you figure out what your role here is."

Mel stretched out on the log, raking her hair back out of her face. "What are the options?"

"You've got the guys that work the field. The enforcers, like Gally and Leon, keep the peace. Then you've got the runners." Minho mentally ticked them off in his mind as he went through the list of all the jobs.

Mel raised an eyebrow at the last job. "The runners?"

"Look around you. What do you see?" Minho grinned, always loving telling new people about the maze.

Mel did as he suggested, looking around and noticing the huge cement walls. "We're enclosed."

"We're in the middle of a maze." Minho informed her, glancing at the rest of the runners who were drinking and laughing.

Mel nodded. "So you run the maze? Why not at night?"

"The doors close at night." Minho explained to her, but that was only half of the reason that they didn't run at night. "There are things that come out during the night too."

"What things?" She questioned with a frown.

"They're called Grievers." He himself had never seen one, he'd only heard them and heard of them. "No one's ever seen one, because no one's ever survived one."

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><p>Leon sat on one of the roofs sliding on thick straw, very grateful that it wasn't a hot day. As he was the littlest of the builders, he always got given the duties that didn't involve heavy lifting – such as doing the roofs. He didn't mind so much, it meant he was out of the way and got to sit there and look over the Glade. The problem with getting a greenie every month meant that they needed to expand, though.<p>

After searching fruitlessly for more straw, Leon heaved a sigh, leaping off the roof and into Gally's path. He rather liked doing it – at first it gave Gally the shock of his life, but now it seemed he was used to Leon jumping around in his way all the time. Leon jerked a thumb towards the roof.

"Need more straw, dude."

Gally raised his eyebrows. "Then go get some."

"They're still cutting up some more." Leon glanced around, shielding his eyes from the bright sun. "Got any spare?"

"I don't think so." Gally shrugged his shoulders. "We can check."

Leon adjusted his beanie as strands of auburn hair had managed to escape yet again. Gally watched, wondering why the kid even bothered with the beanie. Maybe he had an unruly mane of red hair, but so what? However if it was what Leon felt comfortable with, Gally couldn't stop him.

"So. The new girl." Leon quickly diverted attention from himself, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"She's cute," Gally commented.

Leon pulled a face, wrinkling his nose. "I mean, what do you think she'll end up doing?"

"No idea." Gally hadn't really thought too much on what a girl might do in the Glade. Technically she should be able to do anything the rest of them could, except maybe not become a builder as it required some heavy lifting. "What do you think?"

"Not you," Leon quipped with a cheeky grin.

"Please." Gally scoffed. "She so will."

"Ew, man." Leon rolled his eyes. There was definitely sexual tension in the Glade now that a girl was there – it was full of young hormonal boys and throwing a girl into the mix definitely didn't seem like the safest bet. "Just because there's a girl around doesn't mean you need to try and get in her pants."

Gally frowned. "Why not?"

"Coz, it's objectifying," Leon argued, with more maturity than most boys his age possessed. "What are you gonna do if they send more girls up? Besides, even if she did want to sleep with someone, which I doubt, she has a choice of like a dozen other guys…"

"Yeah, but come on." Gally looked smug. "She'd pick me."

"Nah." Leon shook his head. Gally was arrogant, but girls didn't like that. There were also more attractive guys than Gally in the Glade, if she was going by looks alone. He brushed a strand of red hair back into his beanie. "She'd probably pick someone a bit more…well, someone less desperate really."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gally's tone became defensive and incredulous, as though he didn't understand what Leon was talking about. "Like who?"

Leon simply offered the older boy a knowing smirk. "See ya, Gally. I'm off to get that straw."

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><p>"That's the Homestead over there, where everyone sleeps." Alby told Mel as he continued to lead her around the Glade. He could tell she was still uncomfortable, but he'd noticed her quickly forming a friendship with Minho.<p>

She smiled, sitting down beside him when he sat. They were able to see most of the Gladers working from this point. "You guys have a good setup."

"Everyone has a job. We take a break for lunch and finish up when the runners get back." Alby explained to her the general outline of a day in the Glade. It was put in place to keep a sense of normality and to keep everyone sane.

"So what jobs do you have?" Mel glanced around to watch what everyone was doing, noticing that a small group were missing, who she assumed were the runners.

"Med-jacks, builders, runners, enforcers...sometimes the roles can overlap." Alby looked over her. He was unsure as to what she would end up doing. She seemed intelligent enough, but also seemed quite energetic.

Mel nodded, mulling over the possible things she could do in her head. They sounded interesting enough, but she couldn't see what she would do or where she would fit in. "How do you end up in these roles? Do you choose?"

"You choose, and it's also what you're good at." He answered, watching the workers in the field and the builders. It was a good day to get things done. It wasn't too hot, or too cold. "Do you have any idea what you'd want to do?"

"No idea." Mel bit her lip. She was still trying to get her head around everything, especially the memory loss she had experienced, that she knew they had all experienced within the Glade. "I'm sure I'll find out."

Alby nodded in agreement. It always took people a little while to fit in and find their place. "It might take time. You can try a few things out. Leon was tilling fields until he realised he didn't have the patience."


	2. Keeping Secrets

**Chapter Two: Keeping Secrets**

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><p><strong>AN: So...the second girl is revealed ;) Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed so far!**

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><p>Mel sighed heavily as she looked around at the mess that was their makeshift infirmary. She shook her head, males were messy, that was one thing she knew. She went about moving things around, having to push her brown hair out of her face often. She was definitely one of the older people in the community at the age of seventeen. She'd gone through puberty already, resulting in her figure going from being straight up and down, to her possessing some curves. She was athletic by nature, however, leaving her with little to no fat and a toned stomach, arms and legs.<p>

She glanced around as she finished packing things on the shelves and putting this out of the way of people moving in and out of the room. After tying her hair back, Mel made her way outside. Everything that needed cleaning was clean and she was now bored with nothing to do. She figured she'd go find Alby and ask him what else needed doing.

"Sorry!" Leon exclaimed as the two ran into each other.

Mel grabbed his arm to steady him as they both staggered back. "It's okay. You alright?"

Leon nodded, although Mel noticed that he appeared to be quite flustered. "Yeah. Fine."

Mel frowned upon noticing the blood on his leg. "Are you sure?"

"Just a little cut." He brushed it off, not wanting to worry her or bother her.

"Want me to check it out?" She pressed; worried that it could be a serious injury. "Leon?"

"Alright..." He reluctantly agreed, following behind her nervously as she led him inside, closing the door behind him.

Mel led him to one of the beds, sitting him down. "Show me."

"It's just a scratch." Leon told her, gnawing at his lip.

Mel rolled her eyes, grabbing a bowl of water and a cloth. "I'll clean it. Come on, show me."

Leon hesitated before tugging his pants up as far as he could, not wanting to pull them down. "You probably can't see it."

Mel began to clean the blood off of his leg, noticing that there was no more blood, but that the cut must've been too high up for her to see. "Hm. Nope. Must've just been a small cut up along your thigh. It's not bleeding anymore though."

"Okay. That's good." Leon tugged his pants down when she was done cleaning the blood up. "Thanks."

Mel smiled brightly, watching as he got to his feet. "Have a good day and don't cut yourself again, Leon. And it might be an idea to put something over it so it doesn't get infected."

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><p>It was a little after dark when Newt went looking for Leon. The doors to the maze had just slammed shut, and still the young boy hadn't shown up at the village. Newt was aware that he liked to explore the woods, but he still wanted to make sure that the kid wasn't getting himself into trouble. Hearing some splashing, Newt frowned and headed towards the creek. It was common for the boys to go and wash or muck around down there. But what he saw made him stop in his tracks.<p>

There was a red-haired _girl_ paddling around in the creek. Fiery auburn hair cascaded down past her shoulders to her waist. Newt couldn't help but stop and stare. She was only in up to her waist, so from there up he could see…everything. She had curves – a small waist and decent-sized breasts. It was only then that Newt realised he was staring at who they had all thought to be Leon.

"Leon?" he blurted out.

The auburn-haired girl just about jumped out of her skin, immediately sinking down to her chin in the water. But it was too late. Newt had already seen that she was most definitely a girl. What he didn't understand was why Leon – or whatever her real name was – had decided to disguise as a boy. The girl slicked her hair back, looking troubled.

"We need to talk to Alby." His tone was weary. "Put your clothes on."

"Turn around," she demanded, and Newt turned and heard her sloshing out of the water. He resisted the temptation to turn and look at her again. Once she was done, Newt turned to see her yanking the beanie down to hide her long red hair. With her most prominent trait disguised and her curves hidden, Newt could still tell she was a girl by her full lips, soft features and long eyelashes. How hadn't they noticed before?

"Come on."

Newt headed back up to the village. The girl followed, stuffing her hands in her pockets and looking apprehensive. Newt saw Alby talking with Gally and walked over to them, tapping Alby on the shoulder. He could tell by the girl's glare that she didn't appreciate what was happening, but he felt as though he had little choice. It wasn't up to Newt to keep her secret.

"Alby, Gally. Can we talk somewhere private?"

Alby frowned slightly as they headed back into the woods. "What's wrong?"

"Leon needs to show you something." Newt glanced pointedly at the girl, who was still glaring heatedly at him. When there was only silence, Alby folded his arms and Gally frowned at her.

"What is it, titch?"

"He is a she," Newt stated, seeing that the girl wasn't going to admit her secret of her own accord. He pulled her beanie off, and she bit her lip when her hair tumbled down past her shoulders. Gally scowled openly at the revelation, whereas Alby appeared more alarmed than anything.

"What's your real name?" he asked.

"Leyla," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Why did you lie to us for so long?" Gally demanded. His tone was a lot harsher than Alby's, and it was clear that he was far from impressed with Leyla's disguise. He examined the girl with a frown across his face.

"I didn't want to be different." Leyla gnawed at her lip, her eyes downcast. "I wanted to be treated the same. So I wore loose clothing and hid my hair so no one would notice."

"She did hide it well," Newt said, sounding almost impressed.

Gally glared at him. "She shouldn't have lied."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Alby turned to face Gally, looking impatient. It was clear he wasn't sure how to react to the fact that little 'Leon' was in fact a girl named Leyla. She was older than they'd thought she had been as a boy, at least fifteen years old. "Throw her into the maze?"

"No," Gally replied, glancing at Newt. If anyone would really have an idea what to do it was him. Besides, he had been the one to discover Leyla's secret in the first place.

"Well, first we should tell the others."

"What?" Leyla protested, her hazel eyes widening. "Everyone has to know I'm a girl?"

"They deserve to know," Newt said, looking at her. She was actually a very pretty girl, now he came to think on it. She was different from Melanie – while Melanie was quite tall with brown hair and brown eyes, Leyla was small and auburn-haired. "I think your punishment should be that you now have to face the group with them knowing that you lied for so long. Agreed, Alby?"

"I agree," Alby stated when Newt looked to him for support. "If you want smaller clothes, we might be able to find something."

"I like looking like I have a boy's figure." Leyla threw a distasteful glance in Gally's direction. "I heard the way Gally talks about the new girl, so I don't want to be leered at like a piece of meat."

Newt shrugged his shoulders. If Leyla was more comfortable in looser clothing so be it. It was true that Gally and some of the other older boys had been making crude comments since Melanie's arrival, and it made sense that Leyla wanted to avoid being talked about in the same way.

"Alright."

"Am I still allowed to be a builder?" Leyla glanced at Gally, who looked like there was something sour in his mouth.

"Yes. You're still the second best we have, unfortunately."

Leyla's hazel eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, _unfortunately_? Does it really matter if I'm a girl or not?"

"You still lied," Gally pointed out.

Leyla sighed heavily. She had come into the Glade dressed like a boy, and had firmly decided upon arrival that she would pretend to be a boy. She liked fitting in with the others, had liked being part of a community. Now, the fact that they'd realised she was a girl changed everything. They wouldn't see her the same. They wouldn't see her as one of them, and she couldn't help but feel annoyed that Newt would reveal her secret like that.

"So now you're all going to hate on me," her voice was dry, "For lying or being a girl, I wonder?"

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><p>Mel raked her hair back as she scrubbed the blood from some of the bandages. She knew it wasn't hygienic that they had to constantly reuse bandages, but they were in limited supply of anything remotely medical. They would just have to make do with what they had. She looked up when she heard the sound of something hitting the ground, noticing that Minho had staggered into the infirmary.<p>

Mel moved over to him, resting her hand on his stomach and shoulder to help steady him. "What happened?"

Minho winced as she helped him over to a bed, sitting him down. "Just a scratch. Nothing serious."

"Show me." She ordered, having noticed the blood seeping through the shirt.

Minho tugged up his shirt, letting her get a good look at the scratch along his side that was still profusely bleeding. "Not too bad, right?"

"It looks bad." Mel sighed as she grabbed some water and a cloth. "Lay back."

Minho stared at the ceiling as she began to gently clean the cut. Minho noticed how gentle she was, guessing that she could be a good med-jack if she kept treating all of the guys like this. He glanced at her as she worked to stop the bleeding and to clean all of the blood off of him. He had to admit she was quite pretty with her chocolate brown hair and matching eyes.

"Alby will probably want me to take tomorrow off now." He mused, going back to staring at the ceiling.

Mel raised an eyebrow, still invested in what she was doing. "Is that so bad?"

"Yeah. They need me." He winced as she hit a particularly tender spot of bruising that had begun to surround the cut.

"I'm sure they have others." She grabbed some clean bandages, moving so she could wrap up the cut.

Minho watched as she finished bandaging his side before he sat up slowly, ignoring the throbbing pain. "Yeah, but I'm their leader."

"Everyone needs to learn how to survive without their leader sometimes." She pointed out as she cleaned his blood off of her hands, proceeding to wash out the bowl and rinse the cloth. "I'm sure they'll be fine for one day."

"I don't even actually mind being a runner." Minho admitted. Most other people hated the idea, but he enjoyed it somewhat. There was never a dull moment.

"It seems like a good job. Well, despite the possibility you may die, although that must be pretty exhilarating." Mel pointed out. She liked the idea but she also knew they were selective about it all.

"Yeah, there's always that...how are you liking being a med-jack?" Minho questioned, moving to pull his shirt back on, but deciding not to upon noticing the blood.

"It's alright, just boring." She sighed heavily, sitting down on the bed opposite him.

"Isn't patching me up fun?" He winked.

Mel couldn't help but laugh at the truth of his words. "Highlight of my day."

"Yeah, I guess my amazing physique does that." Minho grinned at her, their serious conversation turning into playful banter.

Mel smirked at that. "Mine is better."

"Yeah well, you're a girl. Plus, we don't really have a comparison." Minho pointed out, not wanting to lose the debate over who was the more attractive of the two, stretching out and lying back down on the bed.

Mel couldn't help but appreciate his figure. She had to admit that Minho was quite attractive. "Is it fun?"

"Hmm? You mean, being a runner?" Minho raised an eyebrow. He'd been asked what is was like before, but no one had ever suggested it to be fun. Mel nodded and Minho shrugged before answering her question, suddenly remembering that shrugging was going to hurt for a few days. "Yeah, I like it. It's tricky at first."

Mel raised an eyebrow. She figured that the physical workout would be touch, but other than that she figured there'd eventually be a way out of the maze. "Why is that?"

"Navigating the maze." Minho explained, watching her as she crossed her legs. "But we've got parts mapped out. Except the Runners are known die a lot though."

Mel shrugged. No one could live forever, everyone died eventually. "Everyone dies eventually."

"Yeah, but we die a lot." Out of the people who had died in the Glade, most of them had been from the very beginning or had been Runners.

Mel nodded, pushing herself to her feet. "You should rest up."

"I will. Got any other patients today?" Minho yawned, rolling onto his side that wasn't sore.

She shook her head, smiling. "Nope. Fortunately enough."

* * *

><p>"So, I heard the news," Minho called out while brawling with Gally. The freckled boy was bigger and stronger, but Minho was a lot faster, so it was always of interest to the Gladers when they did brawl. "Titch is a girl. Who would have guessed?"<p>

"No one, apparently," Gally replied as he circled Minho.

"Doesn't she have any…" Minho made a motion with his hands, indicating boobs. Gally shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't really had a good look at Leyla since realising she was a girl, too preoccupied with his duties and the fact that he was annoyed at her for lying to them.

"I'm sure she does."

Gally tackled Minho to the ground, causing him to yelp. After a brief struggle, Minho managed to flip them, to the cheers of the surrounding boys. Whenever Gally didn't win, it was cause for celebration – because it happened rarely. However Gally was quick to use his strength to flip them again, kneeing Minho in his sore side and causing him to groan.

"Shuckface," Minho muttered.

"I win," Gally said triumphantly.

Mel glanced over at the boys as she continued to braid Leyla's hair back. It was nice having another female in the Glade. It made her feel less vulnerable in a way, and also made her feel like less of the guys were watching her or giving her looks. However, Leyla seemed upset by the whole thing. Mel could understand that.

Leyla sighed heavily as Mel finished with her hair. "Now everyone hates me."

"I don't hate you." Mel pointed out, grabbing a drink and sitting down beside her friend.

Leyla glanced over at the others as they mucked around. "They all do."

"Like it?" Mel watched as she ran her fingers down the braid.

"Yeah. Neater than I could do." Leyla nodded absentmindedly. "They talk about you."

Mel frowned, knowing immediately to whom she was referring to. "What? Why?"

"Because you're a girl." Leyla rolled her eyes, still watching the boys continue to muck around. "So, teenage guys, hormones, one girl..."

"Two girls." Mel corrected as she finished the last of her drink with a pout.

Leyla scoffed at her correction. "Oh, they won't care about me."

Mel lent back against the log. "Why not?"

"Because they've known me a while already. I'm not interesting to them. You are, you're new." Leyla laid back on the grass, staring at the sky.

"Fun..." She sighed heavily.

"Do you ever lose?" Minho asked of Gally, shaking his head slowly as the bigger boy helped him to his feet.

"He would to me," Leyla called boldly, causing the boys to look over at her. She had been fairly quiet before as Leon, but now she seemed to be in her element. Anyone who looked at her the wrong way was snapped at. Perhaps she was just starting to adjust to being looked at differently.

"So if we can't call you titch, what can we call you?" Minho asked with a grin.

"By my name." She stared hard at him. "Leyla."


End file.
